“Happy and successful cooking doesn't rely only on know-how; it comes from the heart, makes great demands on the palate and needs enthusiasm and a deep love of food to bring it to life.”
- Georges Blanc, Ma Cuisine des Saisons!

February 6, 2009

My Panchratani Palak dal and raw Jackfruit-Chana Ghashi, both go to Susan of "the well seasoned cook" blog who is hosting a wonderful, protein packed event called "My Legume love affair-8th helping".

My raw Jackfruit-Chana Ghashi goes to Lakshmi G of Taste of Mysore" blog who is guest hosting "AFAM-Jackfruit" event this month, which is originally launched by Maheswari.

Thanks to all of you for hosting and taking time to organize these yummy round ups too! :))

Gravy with five gems and Popeye's favorite!! ;DThis protein packed dish comes from Punjab (Punj=five, aab=River), a state with five rivers flowing through it in India, which is well known for it's earthy cuisine, robust people and their generosity to guests. Panch in Hindi is five and Ratan means gems. In this case, it means a dish made of five different dals or legumes, which makes it a nutritional powerhouse. I have posted a Panchmel dal before at my Foodie's Hope blog, which is little different from this dish.Palak is my addition to this traditional Punjabi dish, which is Spinach providing loads of iron to us. With aromatic ginger, garlic and spices, there is no better way to enjoy this dal with some Cumin flavored rice or with Bajri rotis or soft, layered Parathas!

For the final seasoning to top the dal:3 tbsp butter or ghee (to be authentic but can use less oil),1 tsp regular cumin seeds or shah jeera if you have it,1/2 onion, sliced finely,(fry until golden, then add ginger-garlic)2" grated ginger,2 garlic, minced,1/2 tsp chilli powder or paprika, just for color.

Five dals to use:Click to see the larger photo with names on each dal. It's helpful for somebody who is a novice in Indian cooking and helps to visually see the five dals I have used.

To make the dal:

1. In a pressure cooker, heat the oil and add chopped onion and fry until soft. Add all the dals and saute for a minute. Add Tomato or Tomato sauce, stir for a while until thick.2. Add turmeric, salt, coriander seeds powder and Chilli powder and add Spinach along with 3 cups of water.3. Cover the lid and pressure for 1 or 2 whistles with weight on or until dal is cooked well. Open the lid when pressure is gone, stir to mix. Adjust spices, add beaten sour cream or cream to mix and simmer very gently for a while.Gravy should be thick enough to scoop with a spoon but not too thin like soup or very thick or lumpy. Turn off the heat.4. Finally, heat butter and add all the seasoning ingredients one by one in that order, fry until oil shows up on top. Do not burn any ingredient.5. Add this to the dal and mix well. Garnish with Cilantro and garam masala. Mix again.

Dal tastes better the next day, excellent with rice or layered Parathas or Bajri roti.

**************************************************************************************************************************************************************************Raw Jackfruit(Halasina kayi) and Brown Chana Ghashi:My mother always called this Ghasi rather than Ghashi, don't know why but I want to play safe here and call it Ghashi too as Konkanis call it, as this is originally a Konkan dish (coastal people of Karnataka and from few other states in India).Here is my..err..my mom's version of Ghasi/Ghashi with canned raw Jackfruit (I know, I know! But hey, don't blame me! I live in US of A! Don't have any Jackfruit tree in my backyard here like my grandparents have in India! :D) and brown Chana, both my favorites. Enjoy! :))

To make Ghashi:1. Heat oil+ghee in a deep dish, add mustard, curry leaves and onion. When the onion is reddish, add garlic and stir for a minute.2. Add cooked chana with it's water (don't make it too thin), and drained Jackfruit. Cook on medium heat for 6-10 mins. Canned Jackfruit is already soft, so it just have cook a little to make the raw taste go away. Adjust the salt.3. After cooking for a while, turn down the heat to simmer, let the gravy cool a bit so when ground coconut is added, it doesn't split to make the gravy thin.4. When it's cooler, add ground masala to this gravy, stir well to mix it all and let it simmer for 10 mons or so or until raw coconut smell goes and you see the it 's bubbling slowly.

That's it, beautiful tasting Ghasi/Ghashi is ready. As usual, it always tastes better the next day!

PS: What I do with the everyday gravy or Sambhar normally is after it's cooked completely on the stove top, I will let it cool down. Then, I will transfer the gravy to a microwaveable dish and reheat the gravy for 10 mins or more on high or 100% power. That makes the gravy thicker and the oil shows on top quicker than the stove top cooking for hrs and also I don't have to fear that ground masala with coconut or yogurt is going to split if it gets too hot. Somehow it works for me this way!

Generally when I add greens I use only tuvar dal, and my panchmel dal is only dal and no greens. This is a new variation for me. Good that your tried and recommend it too:). I have tasted this jackfruit - MIL makes it like this. I like this for a change but prefer the upperi type Kerala style:) Isn't it a pain to clean it? I find that part tedious so hardly ever make this!!

I understand, F! I had never eaten that either and one day Bee chose the Jackfruit for an event. I searched the whole 2 cities before I found loads cans of ripe and raw JF in Vietnamese store!:DTry in Asian stores, they keep them usually.

Thanks Adlak. I am a little behind blog hopping today, just had breakfast.Will be there soon!:)

You did!! Raaga, how did I ever miss that. I don't get Jackfruit usually but I love to have different recipes, will look for it! :))

Harini, I made Panchmel dal just with just 5 dals too, thought I add more nutrition with palak, works well. I bought canned Jackfruit, just have to chop a bit, that's all. In India, we smear our hands with oil and then touch the Jackfruit to clean it. It is a mess but nothing better than fresh JF! :)

Ranji, you call them Ghasi too.Why do I see so many "Ghashi" in other blogs. My mother calls it Ghasi, I thought it was wrong! :DDon't you love the JF and Chana combo, so tasty. Chana tastes great with any other vegetable too, specially with Brinjals! Post your's if you get JF there!:)

Hi Vani, so good to see you girl. Hope you are doing well, must be very busy. Yeah, me too. But you do get the cans in Asian stores, do look for it. It's not as good as fresh, but not bad at all! Hugs to M!:))

Thanks Rak. Both my kids love Spinach, so I try and add it to all the dishes. So nutritious too with dal! :)

Both the dishes looks yum yum! They are new to me.... Especially, making dhal with 5 types of dal is delicious and would surely give the proteins required in our daily diet! Thanks for sharing this wonderful recipe.

The dhal looks awesome and is a nutrition powerhouse I see. I've not cooked with canned jackfruit before but found some amazingly sweet frozen (ripe) jackfruit once. That with the brown channa must be awesome. Hope to try that someday... bookmarked.

Jackfruit Chanya Ghashi looks fabulous. I feel like having it with plain rice. I like raw jackfruit but not the ripe one. Wierd, isn't it? came to know about AFAM-jackfruit too. Will try to make something.

Hi Asha, I learned from you much. Now, I like to go to Indian store and I understand much more what it is. I like buy in Indian store./it is near from me/Today's recipes are too difficult for me, but I learned something new too.

are we cool or what! I made a similar dal myself 3 days ago - its scheduled to appear in 2-3 days or something. By the way this was my reply to ur comment:

@Asha - hahaha! U r talking about Musy and shn while u are not supposed to come out here on a weekend ! Commenting under Anonymous does not justify ur Blog o sphere presence sweetie - Gotcha! :) hehehe

New grinder - U got it???? Already ur pictures do me no good and now u get more and more appliances to do me in!!!! Not fair at all! But I hope u work wonders out of that one..Under ur creative fingers, we are gng to be drooling soon!(ahem! so whats new about that!)

And thanks for the comment dearie - and yes..have to tell you - I dint eat all of it myself. I was an excellent neighbor and host - a tad too generous ppl might say if you know what I mean :) :)

Krystyna, thank you so much, This dal is so easy, do try and make some.It's nutritious too! :)

DK, I googled your blog to just show your wet grinder you posted to Arvind y'day before I ordered it without logging on, that's why I was anonymous and did leave my name underneath my comment! :DYes, Ultra Grind is 2L capacity, $300,coming from Atlanta, so let's see how much it helps me getting me the softest idlis. Sowbhagya is available in US but out of stock. Can't wait to see your dal too, more the merrier! :)

Hi Asha, not sure if my comments have been read by you..left here as well as in FH! Am here to say..u can hunt me down..transformed it to 'Dwaratan' using toor+moong only...masalas n final tadka was making it so worthy! Totally tasty..a trupt feeling after having this daal!! Just loved loved loved it! Its going in the frequent-to-make-folder..Thanks so much for sharing!PS: Hub not such a fan of daals..finished off half the measure!:D

A, Punjabis use Urad dal to make a Sookha dal, it tastes so good mixed with other dals, do try! :)

Purni, I read all the comments you left and answered your q's at FH too. Sometimes, I go to your blog to answer and sometimes I answer at FH itself if I didn't have much time. Check the FH, you will find my reply! :)Hubby doesn't like dal? Glad he loved tadka and your "Dwaratan" (:D), it's really simple and tasty, enjoy. Hugs to you, have a good Monday! :)

Thanks Vijaya, I made your yummy Muruku, will post at FH next week!Thanks foir the recipe :)

Yummy spread.. Chana Ghashi and that to with Raw Jackfruit.. Its torture for me.. missing all the yummy food. Was able to find Jackfruit only once it was too expensive but we could not resist it! Wish I could have some :(

Ashakka, idannu munche nodidre, nenne ide madabahudittu.., better late than never.., next time khanditha madthene:)I love dal with palak & garlic. I die for raw jackfruit. Both are really worth a try. Will let you know after I try :)

I made this for lunch y'day, Asha. I used exactly five dals (don't have to hunt me on that), but used chard instead of spinach. The addition of cream was a superb idea. It even worked with half and half that I had on hand. I didn't care for rice or roti. We had it with lemon pickle and pepper pappad. 'Twas delicious. Thank you for yet another winning recipe, Asha.

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